Implementation work on laying the oil pipeline will take 36 months
The EACOP project is a planned 1,443km long crude oil pipeline between Uganda and Tanzania. (Credit: Johannes Rupf from Pixabay)
Tanzania and Uganda have inked a key pact for enabling the construction on the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project between the two countries.
The fifth host government agreement (HGA) was signed in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania under the presence of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
The 1,443km long crude oil pipeline project was originally estimated to cost $3.5bn.
French oil and gas giant Total and China’s CNOOC will be the shareholders of the pipeline project alongside the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).
The fifth HGA for the project follows a tariff agreement signed last month in Uganda and prior to that a memorandum of understanding, a host government agreement, and a shareholder agreement were inked, Dailynews reported.
The EACOP pipeline has been designed to transport crude oil from Uganda’s oil fields in Hoima to the Chongoleani peninsula near the Tanzanian port of Tanga. It is expected to have a capacity of exporting 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The petroleum deposits discovered in Uganda have been estimated to be 6.5 billion barrels. Of these 1.4 billion barrels are expected to be recoverable.
According to Tanzanian Energy Minister Medard Kalemani, implementation work on laying the oil pipeline will take 36 months.
The Ugandan portion of the pipeline will be 296km-long, covering eight districts and 24 sub-counties. In Tanzania, the pipeline will traverse 1,149km through eight regions and 24 districts.
The foundation stone of the EACOP project was laid in September 2017 and was originally scheduled to be completed by 2020.